Iranian UN mission: Time has come to hold 'Israel' accountable
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The Security Council convened an emergency meeting to discuss the Iranian response to the Israeli aggression against the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
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Iran's UN Ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, addresses the United Nations Security Council chamber during an emergency meeting at UN headquarters, on Sunday, April 14, 2024. (AP)
Iran's representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, confirmed that the Iranian operation came within the framework of self-defense and as permitted by international law, and only targeted military sites to avoid civilian targets, in contrast to what "Israel" did in Syria.
He explained that the retaliatory attack came in "the exercise of Iran's inherent right to self-defense as outlined in Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations and recognized by international law."
During the emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss the Iranian response, Iran's representative to the United Nations attacked Western countries that challenged Iran's right to respond to aggression, stressing that these countries protect the crimes of genocide committed by "Israel".
He continued, "Iran has exercised restraint for a long time, but the time has come to hold Israel accountable for its crimes."
Iravani stressed that the Security Council must fulfill its duty under Chapter 7 of the Charter in response to the Israeli recklessness, adding "It is time for the Security Council to shoulder its responsibility and address the real threat to international peace and security."
He added, "Iran has no intention of engaging in conflict with the US in the region. We demonstrated our commitment to peace by exercising restraint about involving the US Army in intercepting Iranian drones and missiles bound for military targets in the occupied Palestinian territories," reaffirming that this underscores Iran's dedication to de-escalating tensions in the region and avoiding the expansion of the war.
Syria's representative to the United Nations: What Iran did was self-defense
For his part, Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations, Qusay al-Dahhak, called on Western countries to review their policies towards the region.
He criticized US support of "Israel" saying, "This blind and unlimited American support, has led the occupation authorities to mistakenly believe that they are above the United Nations and above international law and above the conventions and the resolutions that were adopted by our Organization for decades," adding that the support led these authorities to believe that they can "continue perpetrating their crimes and their escalation of the situation in our region with no response and no consequence."
Al-Dahhak stressed, "The time has come to take serious action where these states reconsider their destructive policies in our region and against our peoples. The time has come for these states to immediately and unconditionally rectify these policies, including through imposing an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people and countries in the region."
He added, "The United States of America, Britain, and France have launched repeated aggressions on my country, which is thousands of miles away from them. These attacks, these three attacks, these three countries attacked my country collectively and individually based on a distorted interpretation of Article 51 and flimsy claims that are no more than baseless lies," stressing that the coalition did not halt their attacks; rather, they prevented the Security Council from discussing these attacks and from taking any necessary actions.
"What the Islamic Republic of Iran did yesterday is a sound and practical exercise of the legitimate right to self-defense as envisaged by the founding fathers of our organization and as guaranteed by Article 51 of the charter," he said, stressing that the Iranian response was necessary.
